Lindsay Rhodes of Sports Illustrated joins Phil Perry on the Next Pats Podcast to discuss who the Patriots should take with the No. 4 pick in the NFL Draft.
NEW ORLEANS -- Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are, for good reason, prominently featured all over the Crescent City this week. Banners. Billboards. Sidewalk art. They are omnipresent.
But if you look more closely at the Eagles' and Chiefs' rosters ahead of their Super Bowl rematch, there is a blueprint the Patriots can use as a guide to attack their rebuild this offseason. Steve Palazzolo of the 33rd Team, who consults with NFL and college clubs on the personnel side of things, pointed it out on the Next Pats Podcast this week.
"It is the trenches, man," Palazzolo said. "The Eagles have a top-five pass-rush every single year. And they always reload, they get younger, they're eight deep on the offensive line. And the years when they're special is when the coverage unit tends to come together. But they always have that foundation of, 'We can rush the passer.'
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"Then Kansas City was fascinating because... I thought they might need to (invest heavily in receiver help), and they went the opposite. They said, 'Mahomes got beaten up in the Super Bowl (by the Buccaneers) with a bad offensive line. Never again.' And they went in and invested in the o-line and maybe sacrificed a little bit at receiver.
"I think it's the trenches, man. I think it's o-line and d-line. I am a shiny-object, No. 1-receiver type of guy at heart. But I might be changing a little bit more to say make sure that foundation is strong on both sides of the ball."
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In the 2021 offseason -- immediately following their 31-9 loss to Tampa Bay, during which Mahomes was pressured 31 times -- the Chiefs made a concerted effort to protect Mahomes. They signed Joe Thuney and Kyle Long at guard. They traded with the Ravens to acquire tackle Orlando Brown Jr. They drafted center Creed Humphrey in the second round and guard Trey Smith in the sixth.
In that one offseason alone, they overhauled what they viewed as their Achilles heel. Two seasons later, they were back in the Super Bowl and won it with Thuney, Brown, Humphrey and Smith all in the starting lineup.
Thuney, Humphrey and Smith remain key cogs for a banged-up line that has managed to do enough to keep Mahomes upright, kick-start the running game (135 yards, three touchdowns against the Bills in the AFC Championship Game), and help steer Kansas City to a chance at the NFL's first-ever Super Bowl three-peat.
But both sides of the line of scrimmage have played a critical role in helping Mahomes and Andy Reid get this close to holding the Lombardi Trophy again. Defensively, the Chiefs have the highest-paid interior defensive lineman in the league in Chris Jones and a 2022 first-round pick in George Karlaftis, who has shaped himself into being a key contributor in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's scheme.
The Eagles have similarly built up their roster with size in mind.
Yes, Hurts is now one of the richest quarterbacks in football. Yes, receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are bona fide playmakers in the eighth-highest scoring offense in the NFL in 2024.
But their offensive engine weighs approximately 1,700 pounds and cleared space for Saquon Barkley to submit one of the best running back seasons in league history.
Lane Johnson has an argument to one day be enshrined in Canton for what he's accomplished in Philly at right tackle. Jordan Mailata was this season's highest-graded tackle, per Pro Football Focus. Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson and Mekhi Becton have evolved into a force on the interior under the tutelage of brilliant offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.
They weren't all considered big-time investments. Becton was a reclamation project as a free agent after he flamed out with the Jets. Mailata was a seventh-round pick. But Johnson was a top-five selection back in 2013. Dickerson and Jurgens were second-rounders taken in consecutive seasons in 2021 and 2022 with star center Jason Kelce still on the roster.
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General manager Howie Roseman's investments have been even more significant on the defensive line. Jalen Carter was taken at No. 9 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, and his Georgia teammate Nolan Smith went to Philly 21 picks later. That was after taking defensive tackle Jordan Davis in the first half of the first round a year prior.
Add to those the mid-to-late-round success stories of Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Jalyx Hunt and Moro Ojomo, and it's easy to understand how the Eagles were able to pressure Jayden Daniels 30 times in the NFC title game.
It may be enticing for the Patriots to pay Bengals receiver Tee Higgins at the top of the market at his position as a free agent later this offseason. It might be worthwhile to consider dual-threat corner and receiver wunderkind Travis Hunter with the No. 4 overall pick.
But new head coach Mike Vrabel is inheriting a group that featured, by many metrics, the worst offensive line in the NFL. The Patriots defense, meanwhile, ranked last in sacks and 22nd in rush yards allowed.
Vrabel likely won't need much prodding to quickly improve the personnel occupying the trenches in Foxboro. But if he required any further coaxing to use real capital -- both in terms of free-agent dollars and draft picks -- to bulk up his roster in those critical areas, all he'll have to do is flip on Sunday's game.
